Second Chances
by Aphrodite Goddess of Love
Summary: Tristan's dead and Isolde's pregnant. Isolde flees to a different place to raise her child; far from where Tristan died. But Tristan is given a 2nd chance at life; to finish what he started. When he leaves again, can Isolde and the TJ live without him?
1. A babe without a name

_**A babe without a name**_

Isolde sat down on the bed, to wait for Bragnae. The past few months had been terrible, instead of remaining at Cornwell with Lorde Marke. Isolde and Bragnae had fled to a distant place, somewhere in southern Ireland; they were still unsure of the exact name. but they knew that here, they could co-exist. Far from Tristans final resting place, but not far enough, because the memories still lingered with her. Every kiss, every touch, down to the last moment, when Marke let them freely love each other. But Tristan had wanted to go back and help Lord Marke fight off her father and the traitors; and instead, lost his own life.

Isolde's life would never be the same, yet she had to live on for this child inside of her. She wouldn't give up, just in case he was Tristans baby too. Then she would have a little bit of Tristan to live with. Isolde didn't even want to think about what she would do if it was Markes. Then her last hope for a little Tristan would be gone and her heart and will for life with it.

The baby kicked and Isolde clutched her stomach, "It's going to be okay baby. Don't worry." she said, Isolde had been having cramps all day and finally Bragnae had gone to fetch the nurse wife. Over the past few months, Isolde had often wondered what would have happened had Tristan lived. But wondering wouldn't bring him back, _**that**_ she knew.

( ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^hours later^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^)

A knock resounded on the door and Isolde got up to answer it. Bragnae came in, with another woman close on her heels. Isolde started to feel dizzy and was led to the bed, the other woman started to bustle about the room and Isolde started fading in and out consciousness. The baby has to be safe, _**he just has to be!**_ Isolde kept telling herself, the baby was her only recurring thought. Other than Tristan of course. If only Tristan were here, maybe things would be different.

At last she heard a cry…

"It's a boy, princess." Bragnae said, lifting a screaming, little bundle up and placing him in Isolde's arms. "What are you going to name him?" the nurse wife asked, looking down at the babe. "I don't know." Isolde answered, finally, moving away the cloth to peek at the babies face. He had her big, blue eyes, but as for the hair, she couldn't quite tell. It looked to be a dark brown, but then again, it was too dark to really see clearly. "Who's your father?" Isolde asked the baby. "Is he Tristan, or is he Lord Marke? Shall we ever truly know, my little baby?" Isolde whispered.

The nurse wife came over to take the babe and clean him up, but that was enough… Isolde had made a connection with the wee babe. She knew that even if he wasn't Tristans, even if he was Markes, she would keep him. Until he was old enough to be sent back to Cornwell and claim his place on the throne there. But for now, he was hers and she would take care of him and love him, as much as he needed. Isolde held the babe closer to her for one brief second, before letting him go. She sighed as she watched her little boy be carried away and soon after fell into a deep sleep.

Bragnae helped the other woman take care of the babe and clean up the room as much as possible. She thanked the woman and promised to check on the wee one every couple of hours to see that he was all right. When the woman had left, Bragnae rocked the babe to sleep, then placed him in a basket beside Isolde on the bed. She laid down on the other side of the bed and the basket and tried to sleep as best she could. Bragnae was worried about the babe and her mistress, would they truly ever know who the father was?

"Lord, please send some small sign to help ease the princesses heart." Bragnae whispered and she closed her eyes.


	2. Second Chance

_**Second Chance**_

Tristan awoke on the hard ground, with a strong sense of déjà vu. He lifted up his head and tried to look around. He seemed to be in a hut of some sort, there was an old man bending over a fire. "Where am I?" Tristan asked, falling back down onto his make shift bed. The old man turned and walked over to him, "well, you're not dead as everyone else seems to think. I saved your life, I did." he said.

Tristan gazed at the man, "I'm Tristan, son of Aragon." Tristan said. The old man chuckled, "I know that. I'm Aodh, I was sent here to catch the dead and ship them to either heaven or where they need to go. But you, you seem to be always avoiding death. First when Princess Isolde saved you and now when you weren't quite dead." Aodh said. Tristan stared at him.

"If I didn't die and I'm not dead. Then where am I? What's going to happen to me?" Tristan asked. "Well, when I let you go, after you've been fully healed. I suspect that you'll go searching for Isolde and your child." Aodh said. Tristan looked up in shock, "my…my _**child**_ and Isolde? I have a child? Is it a boy or a girl?" Tristan asked. Aodh's eyes lit up, "it's a wee, little boy." he said.

"A boy, I have a son. what's his name?" Tristan inquired. "Well, she's yet to name him. Seeing as she's not sure whether he's your son, or Lord Markes." Aodh answered. "I have to find them." Tristan said, pushing himself up onto his elbows and struggling to pull himself up. Aodh pushed him back down, "just wait Tristan, son of Aragon. Let yourself heal first, then you can go looking for them."

Tristan closed his eyes and remembered a previous conversation with Isolde. A time when she was speaking about the future.

**_Flashback..._**

_**Isolde was laying beside him on the ground, a blanket covering them both. "… a child." Isolde said. "Will it be mine or his?" Tristan whispered, Isolde sat up behind him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'd have no way of knowing, would I?" Isolde asked. In response, Tristan turned to face her and kissed her, pulling her back down to the blanket with him.**_

End of flashback...

Tristans dream:

**"_She's gone, Lord Marke." a small man exclaimed, running into the meeting place. "what do you mean Phelps, who's gone?" Mark asked. "Isolde, she's left with Bragnae her maiden, to find a place to raise it." Phelps said. Marke looked at the man sharply, "Raise what?" he asked, "why the baby of course." Phelps answered. "Isolde was going to have a baby?" Lord Marke asked, turning back to the chart, in thought. "Yes sir, I thought you knew, most everyone else did." Mina said. "Why did no one think to tell me this? I let her go and she could be carrying the heir to my throne!" Marke shouted. "We must find her. Send everyone out to look for her. Two women can't run very fast, especially not when one of them is pregnant." Marke said. Immediately, several of the men stood up and began talking as they walked out. _**

**"_Mina," Marke called. "yes?" she asked, turning and coming back to him. "You knew about this didn't you?" he asked her. "Yes Milord," she said bowing her head. "Why did you let me let her go?" he asked. "She needed it Marke. You could not have missed the tortured look in her eyes ever since Tristan died. She loved him and he gave his life for you. Every time anyone mentioned his name in her presence, she would gaze off in the distance, not hearing, not caring. I couldn't bear to see the beautiful, young girl that way. I was afraid you'd never let her go until the babe was born and keep it if it was a boy. Which would've killed her inside even more, especially if it was Tristans child. Give her some time and wait, she'll come back to you. But push her and she'll never return." Mina said and left._**

Tristan awoke in a cold sweat and got up, he looked around him and saw a small lake. He picked up his clothes off of the ground, where they were folded nicely and placed in a pile. Then he moved over to the lake to bathe himself. The dream had unnerved him, so Marke thought the babe was an heir to his throne. Which means Tristan wouldn't be the only one out there looking for her. A part of Tristan knew that it wasn't a dream, that had actually happened. But who was Mina? How did she know about Isolde being pregnant or about him?

After Tristan bathed, he quickly got dressed. Aodh was nowhere in sight, but there was a not saying he was free to go and do as he pleased. Tristan grabbed things that he thought he would need. His sword was wrapped in a cloth and laying by where he had been sleeping these past couple of days. Or was it months, Aodh said time here passed differently than it did in the world.


	3. My little baby

_**My little baby**_

Isolde rolled over in the morning, between herself and Bragnae was a basket where her baby had been placed last night. She peeked into the basket. A curly little head was nestled in the blankets. Isolde reached into the basket and slowly, gently took the baby out. She held the baby close to her, but turned his face out to see him better.

The baby had light brown hair, that curled at his temples and her big, blue eyes. But one glance told Isolde that he was Tristans son after all. He had his nose and perfect lips. "I'll name you Tristan Aragon, my little baby. After your father." Isolde said, Tristan Aragon smiled in his sleep, as if he had heard her and liked his name. He turned and nestled his face into his mothers chest and cooed. Isolde looked down at him and a tear slid down her cheek and fell on the baby. Isolde quickly wiped it away. As she was moving her hand away from his sweet face, Tristan grabbed her finger in his little fist and brought it to his mouth. Isolde let him suck her finger for a bit, before feeding him. "I'll take care of you baby, I won't let anything hurt you _**ever.**_" she said.

"Bragnae," Isolde said, waking her up. "Yes, princess?" Bragnae asked her. "I'm going down to the lake to bath. Watch Tristan Aragon for me." Isolde said, getting up and gathering her clothes to herself. "You better hurry up with it, we wouldn't want some man to see you and try something." Bragnae said. Isolde sighed, thinking about when Tristan had seen her bathing, back when she kept him at the cottage by the sea. The things that had happened and stuff Bragnae said when she found Tristan with Isolde. Isolde kissed Tristan Aragon on the forehead and left him with Bragnae.

"Heir to the throne of Cornwell." Bragnae said, lifting Tristan out of the basket and getting him ready for his bath. "How he would have been raised differently had he been born in the castle, I'm sure Lord Marke would have treated him as a son." she said to herself. She unwrapped the cloth from around the baby and dipped a small washcloth in the water that was being heated above the fire. She laid the babe on their small bed and took his tiny feet in her hands to bathe them. Tristan cooed and Bragnae found herself unable to not fall in love with the little thing.

After she had wiped his body down and Isolde had still not come back. She started to go outside to fetch Isolde, but holding a babe in her arms made it hard. She gently laid Tristan on the bed and lined his basket with a new set of clean blankets before placing him back in it. She left the babe and the basket a little ways away from the fire to keep him warm and opened the small door to go find Isolde.

Isolde moved outside, leaving her baby with Bragnae, knowing that she would wash him and place him in the basket waiting for his momma to comeback and feed him. But no matter how much she loved her baby, she just couldn't stay in there much longer. Not when he reminded her so much of Tristan. Not when looking at him brought back so many memories, good and bad.

Days spent at the cottage by the sea, talking and laughing. Kissing and holding one another, trying not to think about the near future when he would have to go away. She remembered, waiting eagerly for Bragnae to leave so she could cuddle up with Tristan under the covers and listen to him talk about his life. Then she would run back as soon as the sun began to rise, promising Tristan she would be back soon. Just barely making it to the hut before her father would come to check on them or when Morholt was alive and he would come torment her, which he thought was flirting with her. Isolde hadn't been happy that he had died, for she wasn't so cruel to think that. But she wasn't sad that he had died either, she was only sad when they found Tristans boat and she knew that they had only moments left together. Then she had to watch him leave, thinking that she would never see him again. That they would never be able to kiss one another or say that she loved him and he loved her. That was the first time that Isolde's heart broke.

Isolde set her undergarments and her dress down on a rock and slowly wadded into the water. Part of her hoped that Tristan was still alive, but another part didn't think that he was. She kept telling people that her heart was telling her he wasn't gone, that he was coming back. But each time, people would shake their heads and tell her that it only felt like that because she didn't want him to be dead. Somewhere, deep down in her heart, Isolde hadn't given up hoping. She let the waves take her out even further into the water and tried to clear her mind.

Isolde concentrated on the horizon, watching for a sign, any sign that maybe everything would be okay somehow. She didn't notice when the sun was suddenly high in the sky. She was so concentrated on watching for something, that she didn't notice when the breeze passed by, bringing the faintest smell of a storm.

"Princess, you must hurry up! The babe needs feeding and he's ever so small, he may not make it." Bragnae said, Isolde came out of the water and hurriedly got dressed. She ran up the sand slope, to Bragnae, "Sorry to have frightened you, I was just… just… uh" Isolde sighed and Bragnae reached over to touch her arm. "It's okay, princess. But I'm not sure if I should be telling you this." she hesitated and Isolde looked over at her. "The babe is so small, he may not be able to make it." Bragnae finished. Isolde suddenly wore an expression of grief and she rushed up to the hut.

Bragnae followed and came in to find Isolde sitting on the bed, with the baby wrapped in her arms. Isolde was whispering to him and Bragnae crept closer to hear her. "Momma's going to take good care of you Tristan Aragon. I'll keep you safe and together we'll travel the world." she said. Moving the child to her breast to feed him. Bragnae sighed and took the clothes outside to wash them. Knowing that Tristan was in capable hands and Isolde would stop at nothing to keep him safe. As Bragnae would do for the both of them.


	4. AN

Hey, sorry my laptop crashed and I'm working on getting everything back.


End file.
